The Right Questions
As men of faith, we read, study, and reflect on the Bible. And as we do, there are inevitably times when we find ourselves asking questions.
That’s a good thing … If they are the right questions.
What are the wrong questions?
A friend of mine used to say there are no dumb questions, just dumb people. That always felt harsh, especially since he usually said it in response to something I had asked. But he was just kidding. I think. Personally, I think the only bad question is one asked with impure motives – we asked not to learn but to embarrass or hurt someone or to somehow boost our ego. And this can include questions we ask only to ourselves or to God.
For instance, lately I’ve been trying to avoid introspective questions that lead me toward impure motives even if they started from a place of genuine curiosity. I’m reading along in the Good Book when questions like this start popping into my mind:
How could he?
How could Achan take and hide the spoils from the conquest at Jericho when everyone knew that was a no-no? (Joshua 7)
Why would she?
Why would Rachel steal her father’s idols when she left with Jacob? (Genesis 31)
What were they thinking?
What the heck were the Hebrews thinking when they demanded Aaron melt their earrings so they could have a calf to worship? (Exodus 32)
There are tons of examples like that, right?
I mean, why would David give into his lust for Bathsheba when God had given him a kingdom? Why would the 10 spies give into their fears when the Promised Land awaited them? Why couldn’t the Pharisees see that Jesus was the Messiah when they were scholars who knew what to look for? They should have been the first to fall at his feet, right? But they weren’t.
These types of questions usually take me to one of two places. One, to that dark, dank cellar of self-righteous judgementalism, or two, to the foot of the cross. Eventually, I end up at the foot of the cross, but I don’t always take the most direct route. I start in the cellar and hang out there until the Holy Spirit starts populating my mind with new forms of those questions.
They look more like this:
How is that me?
How am I like Achan? How do I let pride, greed, or selfish desires overrule my better judgment?
Why do I sometimes act just like that?
Why do I say God is the only thing I worship but then, like Rachel, keep my old idols somewhere nearby, hidden from others?
What are we thinking when we are led astray? How is my personal impatience sending the wrong messages to those in my circle of influence – my family and friends, for instance – and leading us as a group to take control when we should be surrendered? When am I saying, “We aren’t hearing from God, so let’s just do our own thing”?
The answers to these questions drive me to a place of profound humility. I am reminded not just of how easily I could be like the people we read about in scripture, but how often I stumble and fall in many of the same ways. The only thing that’s different is the time, culture and context.
So, how do we stay at the foot of the cross and recognize more quickly that, as the old expression goes, there but by the grace of God go I? And how do we avoid the temptations and traps that ensnared so many men and women in the biblical stories?
A few thoughts:
1. Stay humble
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” – Colossians 3:12
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” – Philippians 2:3–4
2. Stay alert
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:6
3. Stay in prayer
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” – Matthew 6:13
“And call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” – Psalm 50:15
4. Stay surrendered
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”- James 4:7-8
5. Stay worshipful
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-9
These types of verses help me stay grounded when I read scripture so that I spend more time focused on what the Holy Spirit is teaching me and less time living the lie that says I’m somehow immune to the mistakes others have made. Then I can take the right types of questions to the Lord. As the song says, “and he heard and he answered.”